SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks kept a record-breaking trend for four trading days on Wednesday as foreign investors scooped up tech stocks that posted positive third-quarter earnings.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 33.04 points, or 1.31 percent, to reach a closing high of 2,556.47. Trading volume stood at 357.9 million shares worth 7.44 trillion won (6.8 billion U.S. dollars).
The record-breaking trend continued for four sessions as foreigners snapped up local stocks. The KOSPI surpassed previous records since Oct. 20, except one session on Oct. 26.
The market capitalization of the main bourse totaled 1,664.9 trillion won, topping the previous high.
Foreigners bought a net 306 billion won worth of domestic stocks. They were net buyers for the past four sessions.
Foreign purchase followed Wall Street gains overnight. Tech stocks gained ground after the announcement of record quarterly earnings from tech giants such as Samsung Electronics.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics and memory chip giant SK Hynix advanced more than 3 percent.
The agreement between South Korea and China to get the bilateral relations into a normal development track also boosted upbeat sentiment among investors, market watchers said.
South Korea's exports, which account for about half of the economy, managed to keep its growth trend in October despite less business days coming from the traditional Chuseok holiday.
Most of large-cap shares gained ground. Leading chemical firm LG Chem climbed 2.7 percent, and the biggest life insurer Samsung Life Insurance added 1.9 percent. Samsung C&T, the de-facto holding company of Samsung Group, rose 1 percent.
The most-used search engine Naver declined 3.8 percent, and the No.1 auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis shed 0.6 percent. Top steelmaker POSCO lost 0.5 percent.
South Korea's currency finished at 1,114.5 won against the greenback, up 5.9 won from the previous close.
Bond prices ended higher. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes fell 2.4 basis points to 2.140 percent, and the return on the benchmark 10-year government bonds dipped 2.4 basis points to 2.547 percent.
